Bigger picture + Action and adventure | The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/film/series/bigger-picture+actionandadventure
Indexen-gbGuardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2016Sat, 10 Dec 2016 03:12:54 GMT2016-12-10T03:12:54Zen-gbGuardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2016The Guardianhttps://assets.guim.co.uk/images/guardian-logo-rss.c45beb1bafa34b347ac333af2e6fe23f.pnghttps://www.theguardian.com
Captain America: Civil War shows why superheroes shouldn’t team uphttps://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2016/apr/25/captain-america-civil-war-shows-why-superheroes-shouldnt-team-up
<p>Superman and Batman can only seem to summon their superpowers en masse. But I’ll take a Bourne or Bond over a pack of superheroes any day</p><p>Superheroes used to be loners. They were isolated by the exclusivity of their superpowers, the singularity of their origins, the particularity of their neuroses and the eccentricity of their garb. </p><p>The very earliest of the big-screen superheroes, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNKMbxLcuac">Captain Marvel</a> (1941) and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6Zo_BaxTsk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6Zo_BaxTs">Batman</a> (1943), were marked out by their apartness. When the genre really took off, in1978, it found Christopher Reeve’s <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/pictures/image/0,8545,-10205036390,00.html">Superman</a> grappling with his solitude. If Michael Keaton’s <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/News_Story/Critic_Review/Guardian_review/0,,558607,00.html">Batman</a> (1989) was hardly companionable, Christian Bale’s was even less so. Through the 1990s and the 2000s, most of their burgeoning array of peers managed to cut the mustard by themselves.<strong> </strong></p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/apr/20/captain-america-civil-war-review-an-aspartame-rush">Captain America: Civil War review – an aspartame rush</a> </p><p>Why have these once proudly self-reliant characters been so bunched up? To be fair, you can’t blame the movies alone</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2016/apr/25/captain-america-civil-war-shows-why-superheroes-shouldnt-team-up">Continue reading...</a>Superhero moviesCaptain America: Civil WarFilmCultureAction and adventureMarvelMon, 25 Apr 2016 09:54:11 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2016/apr/25/captain-america-civil-war-shows-why-superheroes-shouldnt-team-upPhotograph: Allstar/Marvel StudiosPhotograph: Allstar/Marvel StudiosDavid Cox2016-04-25T09:54:11ZWhy Elysium's moral message is destined to miss its markhttps://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2013/sep/02/elysium-morality-neill-blomkamp
Neill Blomkamp's sci-fi adventure has a lot to tell us about poverty and privilege – but are we ready to listen?<br /><br />• <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/aug/22/elysium-review">Peter Bradshaw's review</a><br />• <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/video/2013/aug/21/elysium-director-neill-blomkamp">Neill Blomkamp video interview</a><br />• <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/aug/17/elysium-neill-bloomkamp-interview">Neill Blomkamp: 'You'd have to change the human genome to stop wealth discrepancy'</a><p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/movie/156629/elysium">Box office chart-topper Elysium</a> may be set in 2154, but according to its director it's about the here and now. "The movie's meant to be an allegory," says <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/video/2013/aug/21/elysium-director-neill-blomkamp" title="">Neill Blomkamp</a>. His <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/aug/17/elysium-neill-bloomkamp-interview">film's message</a>: the material inequality that pervades our world today is "<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/aug/07/neill-blomkamp-district-9">an outrage</a>".</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2013/sep/02/elysium-morality-neill-blomkamp">Continue reading...</a>Science fiction and fantasyAction and adventureMatt DamonFilmCultureElysiumMon, 02 Sep 2013 15:50:19 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2013/sep/02/elysium-morality-neill-blomkampDavid Cox2013-09-02T15:50:19ZWorld War Z unleashes an unedifying breed of zombiehttps://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2013/jun/17/world-war-z-zombies-brad-pitt
Zombies storm the world once again in Brad Pitt's summer blockbuster, but unlike earlier offerings in the genre, the audience not offered any intellectual salvation<p>For big-screen zombies, the release of World War Z later this week will mark a climactic breakthrough. This has already been a heady century for cinema's undead. Previously beloved only by horror enthusiasts, they've moved centre-stage, getting their teeth into the mainstream thriller with the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/movie/93470/28.days.later" title="">28 Days Later</a> and <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/movie/92143/resident.evil" title="">Resident Evil</a> franchises, popular comedy with the likes of <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/movie/99960/shaun.of.the.dead" title="">Shaun of the Dead</a> and <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/movie/131768/zombieland" title="">Zombieland</a> and even feelgood romance with <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2013/feb/07/warm-bodies-review" title="">Warm Bodies</a>. Only now, however, are they getting to share top billing with a megastar in a $200m summer blockbuster stuffed with state-of-the-art action and effects.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2013/jun/17/world-war-z-zombies-brad-pitt">Continue reading...</a>Brad PittFilmCultureZombiesAction and adventureThrillerScience fiction and fantasyMon, 17 Jun 2013 13:58:58 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2013/jun/17/world-war-z-zombies-brad-pittDavid Cox2013-06-17T13:58:58ZAll the road rage: Fast & Furious 6 taps a modern veinhttps://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2013/may/20/all-the-road-rage-fast-furious-franchise-cinema
Without superheroes or aliens, the F&amp;F franchise has made speed, laced with rage, one of film's most beloved intoxicants<p>The reason for the burgeoning success of the Fast &amp; Furious films eludes some people. This apparently humdrum franchise manages without superheroes, intergalactic conflict, aliens, zombies, vampires or 3D. What has it got? <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2011/apr/27/fast-furious-5-arthur" title="">Perhaps the clue's in the title</a>. Speed and rage have come to form an alluring combination.</p><p>Speed, said Aldous Huxley, "provides the one genuinely modern pleasure." Until the 1820s, no one had travelled faster than a galloping horse; by the 1840s, trains were zipping along at 70mph. Speed began to redefine human life, as the acceleration of output yielded previously unimaginable benefits. The <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmciuKsBOi0" title="">GPO documentary Night Mail</a>, with its pulsing pistons, captured the exaltation this engendered. But if the hastening tempo of the railway age brought collective liberation, it imposed a new tyranny on the individual.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2013/may/20/all-the-road-rage-fast-furious-franchise-cinema">Continue reading...</a>FilmCultureAction and adventureMotoringMon, 20 May 2013 13:40:02 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2013/may/20/all-the-road-rage-fast-furious-franchise-cinemaPhotograph: prThe car's the star … Fast & Furious 6.Photograph: prThe car's the star … Fast & Furious 6.David Cox2013-05-20T13:40:02ZIron Man v Man of Steel: who will dominate?https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2013/apr/29/iron-man-versus-man-of-steel
Superman is armed with a new name, while Tony Stark has remained bonded to his iron moniker, but how will the battle of strength unfold at the multiplexes?<p>The annual battle of the superheroes for film-goers' esteem has at last kicked off. <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/movie/146938/iron-man-3" title="">Iron Man</a> has beaten the rest to the draw; but the first opponent he'll have to face has already stolen a march on him. Superman, who hits UK screens in June, is changing his name as if to mock his rival. This time around he'll be flying under the alias "<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/movie/148371/man-of-steel" title="">Man of Steel</a>". Iron versus steel? On the face of it, no contest.</p><p>Iron may be the most abundant element on Earth, but in its pure form it just rusts away into oxides. While ancient gold and silver artefacts survive, most of their iron age equivalents have been lost to corrosion. Iron can't be fashioned easily into any but the crudest of implements. Weapons made of it had a worrying habit of shattering in combat. Steel was invented to overcome these limitations. Mixing iron with small amounts of carbon and other materials produces something not just shinier but much harder and stronger. Now, over a billion tonnes of steel are produced each year: they're turned into everything from skyscrapers and ships to fridges and bayonets. The very words "cold steel" are enough to induce terror. Surely Superman's new moniker must make Iron Man's sound lame?</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2013/apr/29/iron-man-versus-man-of-steel">Continue reading...</a>Action and adventureSupermanScience fiction and fantasyFilmCultureMan of SteelMon, 29 Apr 2013 13:08:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2013/apr/29/iron-man-versus-man-of-steelPhotograph: prHard as nails … Man of Steel, aka Superman, is unlikely to be a match for Iron Man 3Photograph: prHard as nails … Man of Steel, aka Superman, is unlikely to be a match for Iron Man 3David Cox2013-04-29T13:08:00ZGangster Squad reflects the west coast's fear of the easthttps://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/jan/07/gangster-squad-west-coast-fear-east
A suppressed inferiority complex lies behind Hollywood's attitude to New York mobsters<p>Many nations experience antipathy between one end of the country and the other. In England, "gritty" northerners scorn "soft" southerners. Like those southerners, most of the French too think it's grim up north: <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/jul/21/french.cinema" title="">Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis</a>, which celebrated this aversion, was a box-office knockout.</p><p>In America, north-south discord produced the bloodiest war in the country's history, as Spielberg's <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/movie/149491/lincoln" title="">Lincoln</a> will soon be reminding us. Today however, the northern rustbelt and southern sunbelt seem to rub along. It's on the east-west axis that animus persists. Surely this can only be light-hearted?. A <a href="http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/celebrity/shakur_BIG/2a.html" title="">feud between east coast and west coast hip-hop fans</a> in the 1990s yielded a wave of night-club brawls; shootings were blamed on it.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/jan/07/gangster-squad-west-coast-fear-east">Continue reading...</a>Sean PennJosh BrolinAction and adventureFilmCultureMon, 07 Jan 2013 17:25:58 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/jan/07/gangster-squad-west-coast-fear-eastPhotograph: Jamie Trueblood/AP'It's not paradise' … Ryan Gosling (left) and Josh Brolin in Gangster Squad. Photograph: Jamie Trueblood/APPhotograph: Jamie Trueblood/AP'It's not paradise' … Ryan Gosling (left) and Josh Brolin in Gangster Squad. Photograph: Jamie Trueblood/APDavid Cox2013-01-07T17:25:58ZSkyfall: how James Bond became a poster boy for the new serioushttps://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/nov/01/skyfall-james-bond-new-serious
Remember when every new Bond film used to be a bit of a lark? Now things have got so gloomy that 007 can barely manage a flippant putdown. Is this new solemnity a sign of our times?<p>The rapture inspired by <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/movie/144416/skyfall" title="">Skyfall</a> in <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2012/oct/28/skyfall-james-bond-review" title="">critics</a> and <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2012/oct/29/james-bond-skyfall-box-office?newsfeed=true" title="">public</a> alike might have surprised Bond fans of the past. For the franchise's 23rd instalment lacks what some would have considered its quintessential ingredient.</p><p>What used to distinguish 007 from previous thriller heroes was his unique&nbsp;brand of ironic detachment. <a href="http://www.ianfleming.com/the_books.asp" title="">Ian&nbsp;Fleming's books</a> demanded to be taken straight. The earlier <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/jamesbond" title="">films</a> mocked their source material's vanity, as well as the thriller genre, love, death and Her Majesty's secret service. Their studied cheesiness mocked the mockery itself.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/nov/01/skyfall-james-bond-new-serious">Continue reading...</a>FilmCultureJames BondThrillerDaniel CraigAction and adventureSkyfallThu, 01 Nov 2012 20:00:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/nov/01/skyfall-james-bond-new-seriousPhotograph: Sportsphoto Ltd/AllstarDaniel Craig in Skyfall: a James Bond who's grim and determined. Photograph: Sportsphoto Ltd/AllstarPhotograph: Sportsphoto Ltd/AllstarDaniel Craig in Skyfall: a James Bond who's grim and determined. Photograph: Sportsphoto Ltd/AllstarDavid Cox2012-11-01T20:00:00Z